Call The Ivy Dean Today at (845) 826-5310

Work with the field’s leading experts!

With over 40 years of admissions experience, including time at Harvard and Columbia, The Ivy Dean is often considered the leading expert in the field — guiding counselors, organizations, and students through the admissions process each year. Recently, you may have seen The Ivy Dean on the Huffington Post, attended our interview at the national College Planning Summit, or read our admissions advice on Varsity Tutors.

As the only admissions consulting group with a former Ivy League Dean of Admissions, The Ivy Dean has a high student success rate, with many of our students gaining acceptance to the Ivy League. Even more, all students work directly with the experts, a former admissions dean and college expert.

Read about The Ivy Dean’s success directly from our students:

 

Working with The Ivy Dean took all of the stress out of applying to school. On paper, I am by no means a perfect student. However, thanks to my Application Positioning, I was able to maximize the strengths that I bring to a college to compensate for other factors. Thanks to The Ivy Dean Team, I will be attending Princeton University, my dream school, in the fall.”

– Douglas R., Princeton University


The college application process can be an incredibly disorienting experience—do you listen to your parents, to your friends, or to College Confidential? Ms. Blackman’s advice and Positioning cuts through the confusion, and gives you the strategies you need to advocate for yourself in an incredibly talented and competitive applicant pool.”

– David Z., University of Chicago


The Ivy Dean was truly an asset to my college application. They helped me improve my essays, figure out which colleges were right for me, and kept me on track throughout the entire admissions process. With their help, I was able to submit a winning application to several top universities. As a result, I was admitted to (and will attend) an excellent engineering school.”

– John W., Cornell Engineering


Words cannot express my deepest thanks for your guidance throughout the college admissions process. Before meeting you, I was completely lost; I had neither a college list nor any idea of how to sort through thousands of undergraduate institutions. Through your patience and expertise, you focused my search by identifying characteristics in colleges that would result in my ideal college experience. Your continued guidance resulted in acceptances from ten out of twelve schools, including Johns Hopkins, Carnegie Mellon and NYU. Thanks to you, I will be attending my dream school, Columbia, in the fall.”

– Chase L., Columbia University


Thank you so much for helping me with my college applications! I got into my first choice, NYU Stern!!! I couldn’t have done it without you! Thank you for everything!”

– Tiffany L., New York University


The Ivy Dean has been instrumental to my success, not only in getting accepted into the Ivy League but also in formulating a plan that would guide me throughout high school… They were frequently available to any questions my parents or I had and always responded within a few hours; they were informative, flexible, and thorough during my time working with them. 

– S.I., Princeton University


Before working with Dee Blackman, I had been waitlisted to seven school, and accepted only to my safety; needless to say, I was in a bind. I sought out Dee after receiving her name through a friend. I can attest with utmost certainty that it was one of the best decisions I have ever made. Dee pinpointed the weaknesses in my application, and helped me formulate a strategy to present myself in the best light. All of the pieces were there to make my application stellar – Dee just guided me in the presentation. I was admitted to not only one, but two of my waitlist schools (including my first choice). It takes hard work and creativity to form a strong application, but do not underestimate the value of a second, educated opinion. Call Dee. Thank you for EVERYTHING!”

– M.H., Columbia University 


Thank you so much for all that you have done for me! Before your help I was skeptical that I would be admitted to a great school, but, with each session of ours that passed, I felt more and more confident in my chances at Harvard and the other schools I applied to. Your tireless help with picking essay topics, proofing essays, and navigating the technicalities of various applications saved me many hours of anxiety.

My admissions director from Harvard wrote me a note saying that my application had presented me as a unique, interesting student whom she thought would thrive at Harvard. In the note, she included that one of the hobbies you encouraged me to write about added to my uniqueness. To think that I was hesitant to write on this topic when I started my application! You are always extremely helpful and always make sure that it is my voice that shines through the essays. It has been less than a year since I met you, and now here I am, accepted to be part of the Harvard Class of 2017! Once again, thanks for all that you have done!”

– J.Y., Harvard University


The Ivy Dean has been one of the greatest reasons that I was able to be accepted into the universities that I was. Although my achievements were strong, their positioning ensured that they were framed in a way that ensured that I revealed the most of my personality into my essays. They also gave me guidance for interviewing, even having me run through practices in order to ensure that I was ready to face even the most obstinate of interviewers!

Specifically on my essays, I was given a lot of support in determining what I should write about, along with editing during the drafting process. In doing so, I submitted my applications with full confidence, ultimately ending up at the #1 Public University in the nation! I couldn’t have done it without the help of The Ivy Dean!”

– Shubham G., UCLA


It’s no secret that the college application process is becoming more and more competitive each year. The Ivy Dean helped me navigate this process and tailor my application in such a way that aligned with each of the top-tier schools I applied to. Their strategic positioning approach, from the personal essays to the extracurricular activities, enabled me to highlight various portions of my application depending on the school and program. Their admissions experience was tremendously helpful throughout this process in gaining acceptances to both Ivies and other elite institutions, and I am very thankful to have worked with them.”

– Keshav V., University of Pennsylvania


I have committed to Vanderbilt! How you aided me with the essays was absolutely tremendous. I want to thank you again for all of the help, especially being as it was so last minute. Without your help on my essays, I have no way of knowing where I would be headed next year. Thank you, again.

Morgan P., Vanderbilt University 


I received exceptional help from the Ivy Dean and their creative staff. Their guidance helped transform my essay into a moving narrative that helped present my personality and clearly convey my dedication to my chosen major. Without their assistance in both finding suitable programs and keeping me focused to meet deadlines, I don’t believe I would have had the confidence to successfully apply to the highly reputable programs that I chose.”

– Yelp Review


The Ivy Dean helped us through the entire college admissions process and our experience was outstanding. Their team exhibited a very deep and intelligent understanding of the process to maximize acceptance to top tier colleges. From campus visits, application to essays and overall guidance and moral support, through what can be a very stressful process for many, their partnership was invaluable to us. The results were great with acceptance to two “reach” colleges and all the “likely” colleges. Plus their overall approach is very practical and they adjust strategy to changing situations through the process. Also as a bonus they are very nice, friendly and personable to work with. Would highly recommend their services!”

– Yelp Review


They guided us through the methodology of applying to top tier colleges and gave good advice all through the process. Their guidance and proofreading of the essays was right on the mark. They were always accessible and returned emails promptly. We learned a lot and as a result, our son received acceptances to “stretch” schools, “target” schools, and “safety” schools.”

– Yelp Review

For more information, call (845) 826-5310 or click here to contact The Ivy Dean.

Testimonials

On paper, I am by no means a perfect student. However, thanks to my Application Positioning, I was able to maximize the strengths that I bring to a college to compensate for other factors. Thanks to The Ivy Dean Team, I will be attending Princeton University, my dream school, in the fall.

Douglas R. – Princeton University

Dee provided excellent advice and guidance throughout the application process. Her overall expertise in admissions, professionalism and warmth made the experience a great one. I was thrilled that I was accepted to several of the most selective colleges in the country and will be attending Stanford in the fall.”

Laurel P. – Stanford University
It's my pleasure to inform you that I've been admitted to my first choice college: the University of Southern California. My dream is becoming reality! I am thrilled to get the chance to belong to the USC and to start a new adventure there. It is also thanks to your great help that I've been accepted, I'm very grateful! Thank you so much for everything.
Sonia G. – From Switzerland
Our son and daughter wanted to go to colleges in the same city but they had different interests and different strengths. She matched them each with their ideal college, one Columbia University and the other NYU, and worked to get them admitted. We couldn't have been more pleased.
Niki and Roger S.
I was a serious student but also wanted a university where I could continue competitive cycling. There weren't many schools that met my needs and fit my personality. From her experience, she was able to hone right in on what became my first choice school. I graduated last year and the entire college experience was awesome.
Colin J.
My parents and I didn't know how helpful it could be to have someone who understood things from the inside working with us. Ms. Blackman was able to identify just what would make me the most attractive candidate to colleges.
Bob M. – Harvard University